I made a separate thread for the review, but posting it here, too:
I've been driving these now for a bit, so I wanted to give my impressions.
Context:
For the last 2 weeks I have been alternating between my M3 wagon (20,000 mile old OE FCABs), my M3 coupe (brand new TMS monoball FCABs), and a friends M3 coupe that's been living with me, with RE's track stiffness urethane FCABs. Previously I had GC's hybrid delrin FCABs in my M3 coupe, for ~50,000 miles, and PF's on my e36 M3 (which quickly failed, like all of PF's FCABs do-- nobody should buy those). I have been driving all 3 cars in a var
Installation:
This was the most painless FCAB installation I have ever done. It slid onto the arm easily, the the exact right point. Once it reached that point, it was completely snug and free of play. If pressing it into an existing lollipop, there's no need to worry about properly rotationally positioning it to avoid preload. Because it can freely rotate, getting it to line up was cake. The housing was the same exterior dimensions as stock, so it didn't have any clearance issues that a stock component wouldn't have. The entire process took ~25 minutes, including getting the car into the air. My GC hybrids took a couple hours of hammering to get installed, and my friends RE urethane installation was a similarly painful process. You do need to periodically regrease them-- during oil changes. If you have a grease gun, this is a <1 min process. But, seems worth mentioning.
Driving impressions:
My M3, with these FCABs, has the best steering feel it has ever had. Everything feels very direct/mechanical. If you've tried going from stock to delrin/urathane in the past, it's that level of change again (as in, same level of change, a second time). They are a significant dynamic improvement!
NHV:
I don't notice any noise difference between the 3 (stock/RE/TMS). Certainly they don't make any noise (they're completely silent), but I don't notice any additional noise transmission either. In terms of harshness and vibration, I can't feel any difference between the monoball TMS FCABs and the RE urethane FCABs (which feel very similar to my memory of the GC hybrid FCABs). Both options are removing a layer of isolation between the road and the steering wheel-- this means you feel more of the road, both the good parts and the bad. There is more steering wheel vibration, because less is getting filtered.
My verdict:
If you're doing stiffer FCABs, of any type, I think this is the set to go with. They provide more of the benefits of aftermarket FCABs without any perceivable additional downsides. If your e46 is used as a DD only, I don't think these (or any aftermarket FCABs) make sense. If your e46 is a weekend corner carver, tracked street car, or track car, these add a significant amount of directness/steering feel to the car!
These will absolutely be staying in my M3 coupe, unless they start making noise down the road (I don't see anything that makes me think they will).
Some pictures I took during install, though not sure how useful they are to anything.
In the box, shiny:
Passenger side (with SSV1 stepped headers):
http://ift.tt/2tDv8fr
Driver side:
I've been driving these now for a bit, so I wanted to give my impressions.
Context:
For the last 2 weeks I have been alternating between my M3 wagon (20,000 mile old OE FCABs), my M3 coupe (brand new TMS monoball FCABs), and a friends M3 coupe that's been living with me, with RE's track stiffness urethane FCABs. Previously I had GC's hybrid delrin FCABs in my M3 coupe, for ~50,000 miles, and PF's on my e36 M3 (which quickly failed, like all of PF's FCABs do-- nobody should buy those). I have been driving all 3 cars in a var
Installation:
This was the most painless FCAB installation I have ever done. It slid onto the arm easily, the the exact right point. Once it reached that point, it was completely snug and free of play. If pressing it into an existing lollipop, there's no need to worry about properly rotationally positioning it to avoid preload. Because it can freely rotate, getting it to line up was cake. The housing was the same exterior dimensions as stock, so it didn't have any clearance issues that a stock component wouldn't have. The entire process took ~25 minutes, including getting the car into the air. My GC hybrids took a couple hours of hammering to get installed, and my friends RE urethane installation was a similarly painful process. You do need to periodically regrease them-- during oil changes. If you have a grease gun, this is a <1 min process. But, seems worth mentioning.
Driving impressions:
My M3, with these FCABs, has the best steering feel it has ever had. Everything feels very direct/mechanical. If you've tried going from stock to delrin/urathane in the past, it's that level of change again (as in, same level of change, a second time). They are a significant dynamic improvement!
NHV:
I don't notice any noise difference between the 3 (stock/RE/TMS). Certainly they don't make any noise (they're completely silent), but I don't notice any additional noise transmission either. In terms of harshness and vibration, I can't feel any difference between the monoball TMS FCABs and the RE urethane FCABs (which feel very similar to my memory of the GC hybrid FCABs). Both options are removing a layer of isolation between the road and the steering wheel-- this means you feel more of the road, both the good parts and the bad. There is more steering wheel vibration, because less is getting filtered.
My verdict:
If you're doing stiffer FCABs, of any type, I think this is the set to go with. They provide more of the benefits of aftermarket FCABs without any perceivable additional downsides. If your e46 is used as a DD only, I don't think these (or any aftermarket FCABs) make sense. If your e46 is a weekend corner carver, tracked street car, or track car, these add a significant amount of directness/steering feel to the car!
These will absolutely be staying in my M3 coupe, unless they start making noise down the road (I don't see anything that makes me think they will).
Some pictures I took during install, though not sure how useful they are to anything.
In the box, shiny:
Passenger side (with SSV1 stepped headers):
http://ift.tt/2tDv8fr
Driver side:
Review: Turner's monoball FCABs
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